Off Panel #185: Hot Dog Icing with Chip Zdarsky

By David Harper

December 17, 2018

In this week’s episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Chip Zdarsky returns to the show to discuss what’s coming for him in 2019 and to dive deep into my favorite comic of the year, Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #310. Zdarsky chats about his Spider-Man origins, how the period when you grew up influences your writing, what formed his vision of Spider-Man, J. Jonah Jameson, the length of his run, how his approach and story on #310 came together, hot dog icing, what makes Spider-Man special, overcoming his rep as the funny guy, what’s coming for him in 2019, tackling Daredevil, the appeal of Namor, and more.

You can find Zdarsky on Twitter, on his website and his work in comics like Sex Criminals and the upcoming Daredevil, Invaders and Spider-Man: Life Story.

Off Panel now has a Patreon! Support the show and earn some rewards by backing the podcast on there.

Thanks to this episode’s sponsor, Radio vs. the Martians! Mike Gillis and Casey Doran host the Radio vs. the Martians! podcast, a show that gathers their funniest, smartest friends once a month for a deep dive into science fiction, video games, horror, comics, movies, and everything in-between. So far, they’ve dissected topics like Superman, Steven Spielberg, Akira, George Lucas, Zombies, Twin Peaks, Hiyao Miyazaki, James Bond, Watchmen, and whether drivers are required to pull over for the Ghostbusters. Find this podcast and its spin-off show, Podcasta la Vista, Baby! a celebration of the films of thespian and statesman Arnold Schwarzenegger, on iTunes, Stitcher and their website.

Have a question for Off Panel? You can reach David by email and Twitter.

Header image is from the cover of Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #310, art by Mike McKone and Dean White. Intro music is Vulfpeck’s Outro from their album Vollmilch. Thanks to the band for letting me use the track.